Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was the 28th President of the United States. Born in Virginia, he pursued an academic career, turning to politics after he became head of Princeton University. He was elected to the presidency in 1912 and was thereafter responsible for a great many progressive reform measures. His championship of the League of Nations after World War I foundered on domestic politics, and for the remainder of his second term he became ill and virtually incapacitated in the White House.